Growing Pains

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In every generation the argument about population rings out in terms that were defined at the end of the 18th century. On one side, Thomas Malthus worried that a growing population would inevitably outstrip the resources available to feed it. On the other, the Marquis de Condorcet responded that the ingenuity of human beings would ensure that society remained peaceable even as the population continued to grow.

In those parts of the world such as India, which need either a second green revolution or a first industrial revolution, this argument is a staple of daily political life. Though it is